Hello, again. Yesterday I got a little excited. There was a theme coming from all seven Psalms. When I first wrote it, it was over fifteen hundred words, with five major points. Out of respect for readers’ time, I didn’t want to burden you with that much content. So, I narrowed it to the first three points. It was still longer than it should have been.

Today, we have seven Psalms again. The first verse in each one intrigued me. But I will go a different direction with this devotional. Focusing on one verse.

Psalms 14:1: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”

In this one verse, we have six points.
What is a fool?
I thought this verse referred to any non-believer. It is worse than that. All the commentaries reference the original word used in this verse, which is nabal. This is not just a person who didn’t know. It is a person who, though they know, chooses to be the enemy of God.
I had grown up with Catholic influences and spent many Sunday mornings sitting in a pew. Looking at the world, it is hard to deny that there is a creator. The fact there is a creation, by logical inference, denotes one exists.

But a fool is the one who is an enemy of God (see Rom 5:10). Not because he believes nothing. Believing nothing would still be a belief. Most atheists believe in science, the Big Bang, evolution. It is not a belief in nothing. Instead, they are looking for anything which allows them to deny God His rightful respect.

Gill’s Exposition states that some believe David was referring to someone like Sennacherib, or Rabshakeh, etc. (1) This fits the pattern, a known enemy. But it matches the character, not the intended individual.

This is not a demon. Demons do not deny God exists (see Jas 2:19).
Says in his heart.
Which is why when we speak of a fool in this verse, it is the person who is not relying on logic, but emotion. If they argued that there is no God because of some factor, that is someone with misplaced faith in a lie.
Here we are talking of the one who, because they love evil, convinces themself there is no judge. To accept an Almighty God would mean giving away control of their own desires to do evil. Instead of changing their ways and repenting, they eliminate the idea of a Righteous King. Thinking this lets them off the hook. This would be anyone who knows the lifestyle they have chosen is sinful. Others will point to the scripture to explain that their choice will lead to eternal damnation.
There is no God.
Instead of accepting this reality, they make an equation. God says their actions are sin. God says sin leads to hell. They remove sin and hell from their minds by eliminating God. This is faulty math.
As Gill also states, “they do not express it with their mouths, yet they would fain persuade their hearts to deny the being of God.” (2)

It is the logic that if you don’t get caught speeding, it isn’t breaking the law. Try explaining that to a law enforcement officer. We could say speed is a relative measure of velocity. Telling the police officer, “I only felt like I was doing fifty-five,” will not hold up in court. Likewise, claiming you feel you are over the minimum age to drink alcohol won’t excuse that crime.

Convincing yourself, deep down, that there is no God, does not negate His existence. If it did, it would eliminate all He created. Your existence would cease.
Corruption.
The person who makes these claims is doing so because they know they have violated His laws. If they had kept the whole Law, they would want there to be a God. Their reward would be spectacular. Instead, because they’ve embedded themselves in sin, their corruption demands this response.
When the police officer says, “I will give you a warning, but don’t let me catch you again.” This fool, because of their corruption, would speed away from the scene. If they could control their response, they would play it cool and slow down. Instead, they attempt to remove the authority which is over them.

The word used for God in the original text here is Elohim. Charles Spurgeon, in his Treasury of David, states, “It is worthy of observation that he does not say there is no Jehovah, but there is no Elohim; Deity in the abstract is not so much the object of attack as the covenant, personal, ruling and governing presence of God in the world. God as ruler, lawgiver, worker, Saviour, is the butt at which the arrows of human wrath are shot.” (3)

Therefore, we are speaking of claiming there is no God who is over me. While an ignorant person who doesn’t know would say there is no God, this is a fool who knows there is a God but refuses to bow to His authority.
Their Deeds are vile.
This is the total depravity of man. We are all sinners (Rom 3:23). Somehow, we try to hide them from a God who sees everything. The fool here knows that someone has caught him, but he refuses to give up his sin. It is his identity. To repent would require a radical change in all they hold dear.
We see individuals daily who portray this depravity. Instead of changing their actions, they attempt to change society. If they can make their choices mainstream, they assume this can change the laws and make evil legal. They have won in the courts in many states, but will never change the Laws of God. He is unchanging and His laws are eternal. So is His punishment.
None do Good.
This last point is trickier. Not that they are doing the vile evil things they are doing. They also are not doing good. Many feel they are “good people.” They boast of their inherent goodness, asserting it renders Jesus’ sacrifice unnecessary. This is in contrast to 1 John 1:10, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us” (NIV).
Even those of us who try to do right in the eyes of God are not doing good. Our motives are all wrong. They are doing them for social acceptance or personal gain. Not to please God.

There is an episode of the show Friends where Joey says there is no selfless good deed. Phoebe disagrees and tries to donate money to a telethon Joey is part of. It causes him to get recognition, which makes her feel good, negating the selflessness of the deed. (4)

Goodness blossoms only when we’re rooted in God. This requires confessing Him as our Savior and bowing to His authority. Are you ready to remove sin’s control over your life and give Jesus His Lordship?
Tomorrow, we will read Psalms 15-18

Gill, John. Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible. London: George Keith, 1763.

Spurgeon, Charles H. The Treasury of David. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1870.

Friends. Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman. Directed by various. Warner Bros. Television.